So I’d like to buy the latest Arcade Fire album. I’ve got a credit on my account, as you can see, and it should cover the purchase. However, the amount shown here is a total of all of the credits on my account. Amazon issues different credits: some are for anything, and some are restricted. When I last bought an MP3 album, for instance, I received $5 off video on demand. That’s included here.

“No problem,” I thought, “I’ll go to my account page on this.” So I did and was given a different amount - $15.01. Worse, I’m given no details on the types of credit(s) here. I’m just told, “We’ll automatically apply your balance towards your next eligible purchase.” Gee, thanks!

The dilemma here is that because I’m buying an MP3 download, I don’t get a cart - just one click, a confirmation page, and I’m done. So I can’t see how much this is really going to cost until I receive the purchase confirmation in email. What a disaster.